I call BS on the SNR threshold the CSRs so quickly jump on. My SNR readings are 42 or higher on all 6 tuners with signal strengths pegged at 100 most of the time and I haven't had tuning issues with my Roamio Pro.

I second your BS, and raise you a horse-patty. Having more actual signal than noise (SNR) "should" always be a good thing. In tivo's case, who the hell knows?

1. Set up 6 recordings on different channels at the same time.
2. In the middle of the 6 recordings, reset the TiVo.
3. When the TiVo comes back and continues the recordings, I get V53 on one of the channels.

Same result if the CableCard is reset (by the cable company?). I have not encountered V53 other than these two cases. My SNRs are 39-41. I just bought an attenuator and will repeat the test when I get the chance.

I have charter and get the channels not available too. In my area it's Charter's fault. They're trying to move channels up to achieve all digital and 150 HD channels in all areas. I suspect that and occasional odd problems with the head end. One time the low end channel was available while the HD wasn't. PIA trying to get someone to talk to my head end through the call center.

Do you have a signal booster? If not see if you can get the tech to install one for you, it may help and then again, it may not, but at least you'll rule out other problems. It helped with picture quality when they did our new install after coming back from Directv.

Please provide us with the steps on how to have TiVo add that software

Quote:

Originally Posted by mburnno

I been looking at these forums for a while now and I can honestly say that Tivo has dropped the ball on there newest DVR. I have been super critical about Tivo given this is their 5th generation box and should know by now everybody who calls up is not wrong or be to quick to dismiss something because it does not fit in to the steps for what could be wrong according to their troubleshooting script.

I spent over two weeks trying to convince their own Tech support that the problem resided on their end and not mine. It was only after I jumped through all of their hoops did they agree that Yes indeed it was on their side and I was missing part of the Tivo software. The thing that pissed me off was the fact I told them I have miss-matching settings on both of the Roamio's I owned and I was told I didn't know what I was talking about. So stick with your fight until you get your problem fixed.

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I am having the same issue with Roamio who freezes. The signal attenuation seems to work. But then no more internet on the box when having an attenuator on the line. I would like try your "mburnno " solution of having TiVo installed the missing software on my Roamio.

Please provide us with the steps on how to have TiVo add that software. And what software should we ask for.

Folks this has NOTHING to do with high SNR levels, period. TiVo is well aware of the V53 errors and last I heard they are suggesting it is a problem with Tuning Adapters and are working with both Motorola and Cisco to get it corrected. I only experience these errors on SDV channels. I have to reset my TA at least once/week to correct this issue and it's VERY frustrating. TiVo assures me that this will get fixed, whether or not is does - only time will tell...

Folks this has NOTHING to do with high SNR levels, period. TiVo is well aware of the V53 errors and last I heard they are suggesting it is a problem with Tuning Adapters and are working with both Motorola and Cisco to get it corrected. I only experience these errors on SDV channels. I have to reset my TA at least once/week to correct this issue and it's VERY frustrating. TiVo assures me that this will get fixed, whether or not is does - only time will tell...

I too an having V-58 errors. I am on Charter Cable in East Tennessee. I spent at least six or seven hours with various tech personnel trying to resolve this problem. Tivo tech support thinks it's a tuning adaptor firmware problem.

I too an having V-58 errors. I am on Charter Cable in East Tennessee. I spent at least six or seven hours with various tech personnel trying to resolve this problem. Tivo tech support thinks it's a tuning adaptor firmware problem.

This thread is regarding "V53" errors. There is another thread "Tuners 5 & 6 Not Authorized" which you can follow regarding "V58" errors.

I've noticed an interesting behavior that seems to be consistent when I get V53's. First of all, I only get it when viewing high-def. I switch the channel to the same channel in Standard-Def then switch back to the channel in high-def. And the V53's are gone and I can start a new live buffer. Of course, its a bummer that I didn't have an original live buffer when the V53 kicked in, but at least I can start a new buffer.

(Maybe I could have switched to any channel, but I haven't tried that)

p.s. apologies if this workaround has already been mentioned. I read this thread awhile ago.

I find most all of this discussion very strange. I can understand the possibility of too high signal strength hurting a/the tuners head, but a too high SNR?

The problem is TiVo doesn't supply a proper signal level number. Especially on the Roamio my signal levels all max out at 100, so no indication of relative strength. A high SNR could indicate a high Signal level and normal Noise level such that the Signal level is higher than the maximum signal level supported. Of course a high SNR could also come from a normal signal level and a below average noise level in which case you are fine.
It looks like support reps are told to go on the assumption that high SNR means too high of a signal level which may be a valid assumption in some cases, but not in others. Put another way, TiVo is assuming some baseline noise level and then extrapolating what maximum SNR ratio keeps the S below their maximum threshold. If diagnostics provided the S & N numbers instead of just the ratio that would be more useful information.

I am not convinced that SNR or S or N is involved as others have theorized. How would that explain my workaround scenario a few back? Surely my signal did not change in the 2-3 seconds it took me to switch channels and switch back.

I am not convinced that SNR or S or N is involved as others have theorized. How would that explain my workaround scenario a few back? Surely my signal did not change in the 2-3 seconds it took me to switch channels and switch back.

My post was speculating on how TiVo justifies a high SNR as a possibly too strong signal strength, not that a high SNR is indeed the source problem for every V53 error.

i began receiving the v53 errors following a software update from tivo - same signal strength, snr, cc firmware, cabling. i'm not saying the error isn't snr related, but for me it was the software update that triggered the error, and a subsequent software update improved the issue to where it hasn't happened in a long time.

__________________

The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you. - David Foster Wallace

i began receiving the v53 errors following a software update from tivo - same signal strength, snr, cc firmware, cabling. i'm not saying the error isn't snr related, but for me it was the software update that triggered the error, and a subsequent software update improved the issue to where it hasn't happened in a long time.

Exactly! I've been saying that from the beginning because I initially experienced the same tuning issues with a new Ceton InfiniTV6 PCie tuner and I had their support engineers give me a new firmware and it was fixed within a matter of hours! They stated it was the way the tuner was messaging the cablecard and TA.

so far i replaced 2 cable cards and 4 tuning adaptors.tivo told me i might have a signal problem.my signal str is 85-87% and snr is 35db.i rewired my rg6 to quad shielded rg6 and new 2ghz splitters.i even tried a home depot RCA brand 10db signal amp(this didnt make any difference at all and didnt up the signal or snr)i am waiting for time warner to send a tech out to check signal for the past 2 weeks and they are scheduled for next week.3 week wait,ridiculous!

After not getting any V53 errors for about a month, all of a sudden every channel has it. My SNR is 38-39 and Tivo was saying it needs to be 36. Charter has disagreed with this, saying that 40 is optimal.

Tim316 - if they are blaming 35db SNR then Tivo is just blaming everything! I am so sick of this but I don't know what to do??? Tivo won't step up and fix the problem. Everything worked just fine with my Tivo series 3 so I don't think its a signal issue from Charter, OR if it is, Tivo should still be able to handle it since the series 3 worked just fine before.

Patrick - I have also tried various attenuators but nothing has solved the problem.

I just got off the phone with Tivo though and they are going to send me a new box. I was attempting to troubleshoot with him and my tivo kept locking up and not responding to the remote's commands (or would do so after a 20 second lag).

I also had a 100 signal with 42 SNR and was having lockups and occasional V53 errors. I have comcast with Scientific Atlanta cable cards. I have 2 Premieres and the signal is fine on those. TiVo suggested an attenuator so I ordered a combo pack of 3,6,10, and 20 online for $6 since i couldn't find any local. I put a 10 on and it was still 100 / 40. I put a 20 on and it was 83 / 33 and since then I haven't seen a V53 error. It didn't stop the lockups but the software update that just came out may have fixed that. Smarthome has the attenuator pad mix bag online if anyone wants to try it and can't find any local.

I just got some V53 errors for the first time (I am fairly sure it was V53) and rebooting the tuning adapter fixed it. Had some other error a few weeks ago (can't remember the number) and same thing- rebooting the TA fixed it.

Very irritating. It is like I have to reboot the TA every few weeks. Makes me want to just slap a timed power adapter on it and have it reboot the TA every Sun night or something.

Patrick - I have also tried various attenuators but nothing has solved the problem.

I just got off the phone with Tivo though and they are going to send me a new box. I was attempting to troubleshoot with him and my tivo kept locking up and not responding to the remote's commands (or would do so after a 20 second lag).

I really hope the replacement box helps....

Did you get your replacement box? Did it work? I have been having similar issues and we've done the line checks, gone through several cable cards and tuning adaptors. Tivo is now sending a new box and I am so praying that will work since the current box is virtually inoperable at this point!

Have had Tivo for nearly a decade. Recenty got a new Roamio and two Minis. For the first week, everything worked perfectly. I recorded tons of shows without issue and no errors.

Now, in the last several days, I've I"m getting v53 errors. Maybe worse, I've just noticed several shows were partially recorded (like 2/3 or less) with no conflicts or reason at all. The shows are just missing big chucks, like 20 or 30 minutes.

I just dropped close to a grand for these boxes, and I'm considering simply returning before I get locked into this mess.

Have had Tivo for nearly a decade. Recenty got a new Roamio and two Minis. For the first week, everything worked perfectly. I recorded tons of shows without issue and no errors.

Now, in the last several days, I've I"m getting v53 errors. Maybe worse, I've just noticed several shows were partially recorded (like 2/3 or less) with no conflicts or reason at all. The shows are just missing big chucks, like 20 or 30 minutes.

I just dropped close to a grand for these boxes, and I'm considering simply returning before I get locked into this mess.

I had almost the same problem. Worked fine for a week then constant lockups and reboots at least once a day or more for the next few weeks.

While working with TiVo Tech support I found my SNR and Signal was way to high. So I got some attenuators to fix that. Ended up getting it down to the correct signals using a 20db attenuator. That still didn't fix it so I ended up getting the TiVo replaced and at the same time I got a new cable card. That was the Monday before thanksgiving I got the new one all setup and it hasn't had a problem since.

So I'm not sure if there's just a batch of bad TiVo's out there or if its something else. Maybe the signal boosters in the TiVo causes some kind of over load and burns something out and now the new one with the attenuator isn't overloading something after a week of a hot signal? Not sure but knock on wood, its been perfect ever since doing all 3 of those things.